Religious Malaysians lacking in moral, spirituality

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Religious Malaysians lacking in moral, spirituality

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26, 2024: The above image was found on Facebook and it aptly describes many Malaysians and their political mentality.

The image was accompanied by this message:

Keep supporting the rich and wealthy billionaires and remember this photo when your rent and bills are due.

One excellent example is the disgraced and shameless former premier Najib Abdul Razak who is currently languishing in prison serving a 12-year sentence for his role and financial mismanagement of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

But there are many morons who continue to display political support for the jailbird and rooting for him to be pardoned and freed.

Both domestic and global economies are gloomy and Malaysia is worse off with a RM1.5 trillion national debt, thus the weak Ringgit.

Many are struggling daily to put food on the table for their loved ones but yet condone graft or corruption, the cancer of socio-economic development.

And cancer is almost certain death, in this case for the country.

Malaysia’s 10^th Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his so-called Madani Unity Government appears to be at war with graft and the suspected corrupt and super rich who are unable to account for their wealth.

Yet, there are quarters who sympathise with those accused of corruption and describe the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)’s actions as “political persecutions” or even “vengeance”.

No News Is Bad News reproduce an article titled “When a society has lost its moral compass” penned by former Bank Negara Deputy Governor Sukudhew (Sukhdave) Singh:

https://www.thecenterforgrowth.com/tips/spirituality-as-my-moral-compass 

When a society has lost its moral compass

Sukudhew (Sukhdave) Singh

Former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Malaysia | Former Independent Director, Khazanah Nasional Berhad

Published Aug 29, 2022

The more I observe societies like Malaysia, the more I am convinced that we have too much of religion but too little of morality and spirituality. That it is considered religiously acceptable by so many to commit public breaches of trust, to steal and to deceive shows that despite the great public display of religion, our society has lost its sense of morality and its bearings about what is right and ethical behavior. We talk about preparing for the hereafter but so many in our society spend their lives accumulating shamefully excessive material wealth, even if it involves unethical and illegal means.

The robbers, psychopaths and scoundrels in our society have shown how willing they are to use religion as a disguise to hide their wrong doings. They have shown how they can use religion to gain and retain power, subduing the masses by promoting unquestioning obedience to religion and consequently to them as elevated representatives of that religion, even though their behaviors and actions break every code of morality and spirituality, or what would normally be considered just decent behavior.

The public has been made obedient and subservient with the use of religion. Religion has given small minds great power over the rest of society simply because we allow these small minded, and largely uneducated, individuals to project themselves as enforcers of religion. Those in power have encouraged this religious intimidation because it serves their own selfish interest. However, this religious monstrosity they have created and imposed on society will one day eat them too.

The civil service has become so riddled with corruption that one cannot escape the conclusion that many have come to see rent-seeking as their birthright. How can so much moral degeneration exist amidst so much public display of religion?

When individuals perform all the religious rituals and yet find nothing wrong with engaging in corrupt practices and other criminal acts, there is something fundamentally wrong with the way these individuals were brought up and with the societies in which they were brought up.

If we want to distinguish the angels from the devils, it seems to me that it is not religion that we should look at but rather towards morality and spirituality. If we want to be better human beings and live in more humane societies, we must once again establish the link of religion to morality and spirituality. We need to stop focusing on rituals and superficial external appearances and behaviors, and start looking within ourselves, at what lies within our soul. We need to shift our attention from the behaviors of others and spend more time examining our own behavior. Let us look at the morality of our own actions.

It is clear that the teaching of religion in our schools has failed to produce people with good character and moral values. Perhaps, it is time to focus on morality and spirituality, irrespective of religion. It can only make us more humane and compassionate in our dealings with fellow humans and all living things. It may even give us leaders who actually care about us. What a nice change that would be.